Anysphere Devcontainer extension: Error resolving dev container authority [devcontainer up]

Bug Reports
1

Describe the Bug

I noticed that that Error

"resolving dev container authority [devcontainer up] Command failed with exit code 1: stdout: {“outcome”:“error”,“message”:“Command failed: docker compose -f /home/toto/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config”,“description”:“An error occurred retrieving the Docker Compose configuration.”

I have no clue where the buggy --profile * config stems from. Do you

The following keys are defined in my devcontainer.jon:

  • “name”: “Service Name”,
  • “dockerComposeFile”: [
    “${localWorkspaceFolder}/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml”,
    “${localWorkspaceFolder}/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml”
    ],
  • “service”: “mission”,
  • “workspaceFolder”: “/workspace”,
  • “containerUser”: “vscode”,
  • “updateRemoteUserUID”: true,
  • “initializeCommand”: “make dev-image”, # a docker build command that builds some container images referenced in dockerComposeFile.
  • “shutdownAction”: “stopCompose”,

Steps to Reproduce

I will try to make a reproduction. Most of the codebase is sensitive so can’t share it as is

Expected Behavior

It works with VS Code dev container extension and should as well here.

Operating System

Linux

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 1.2.4 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: a8e95743c5268be73767c46944a71f4465d05c90
Date: 2025-07-10T16:55:16.443Z
Electron: 34.5.1
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0

Additional Information

Running through remote SSH on VM with Ubuntu OS

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

3

Hi @thibaut-lo, could you share the full logs so we can take a closer look? If you can, it’d also be helpful if you could share your devcontainer.json and docker-compose.yml files.

4

Hi!

Proper command is docker compose --profile "*" ..., and Remote Containers are running docker compose --profile * ...

This command is configured in this file: C:\Users\<user>\.cursor\extensions\anysphere.remote-containers-1.0.18\dist\@devcontainers\cli\dist\spec-node\devContainersSpecCLI.js.

Close cursor instances. Open above js file in your second favourite editor (the first one obviously being cursor) and search for --profile, there should be only one hit. Change "*" to "\"*\"" so this part looks like &&i.push("--profile","\"*\"");try{let.

Start cursor again.

5

Hi @boogi, thank you for tracing this down. It looks like this might be an issue in the underlying dev containers cli with how it is passing parameters.

cli/src/spec-node/dockerCompose.ts at eda6cf892e1440d1fbb454d6e457a2343113ded6 · devcontainers/cli

I’m curious if this issue goes away if you upgrade to version 1.0.19 of the Anysphere Dev Containers extension? This version passes through the PTY flags when spinning up the container, and it seems like the codepath is slightly different when this flag is set.

6

But not to worry :wink: After jumping over this wall, one might face another one:

cursor-remote
cursor-remote603×137 4.15 KB

It seems innocent, but after 10-15 minutes Cursor will just shut down :slight_smile:

Btw, I see in logs, probably not related to above:
[error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]: bash: bindkey: command not found
In bash, the command is bind and it’s builtin. I’m using zsh as default shell, and there the command is bindkey. So mix-in of the two here. If nothing better comes to mind, I will have to switch shells, at least till fix comes.

@ravirahman after restart mentioned above :wink: I already got autoinstalled 1.0.19, which I just checked and it still has i.push("--profile","*"). It doesn’t affect already running instance (it’s only run during installation it seems). I will try to check later if it still affects newly created instances.
Can you share yours test docker-compose.yaml file with which test is passed? I would compare it with mine (which I can’t share as is, bc it’s work-related).

8

Hi @boogi, we tried to reproduce this but were unable to reproduce either issue. Which platform are you on? And can you confirm whether it is still an issue if you switch your default shell to bash:

Below is our (simple) devcontainer.json that works:

{
	"name": "Dev Containers CLI",
	"dockerComposeFile": [
		"docker-compose.yml"
	],
	"service": "main",
	"workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
	"remoteUser": "node"
}

And our docker-compose.yml:

services:
  main:
    image: mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/typescript-node:1-18-bookworm
    command: tail -f /dev/null
    volumes:
      - ./:/workspace

We see the follow logs, which complete successfully:


2025-07-28 11:33:51.222 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":3,"timestamp":1753727631222,"text":"Run: docker-compose -f /Users/ravi/cli/.devcontainer/foobar/docker-compose.yml --profile * config"}
9

Hello @ravirahman

“Which platform are you on?”

All of them :wink:
Base platform is Windows 11, but it doesn’t matter for this discussion, since I run everything inside wsl2 (Ubuntu 25.04, with zsh). And on top of it all I’ve run devcontainer… via plugins from both Cursor and Microsoft :slight_smile: (not at once, though)
I’ve been checking devcontainers to see if it can aid with debugging, but it turns out that nope (because laptop gets too loud&hot), so it’s not an issue for me anymore.
Thank you for sharing sources - now I guess my case is so exotic (docker-compose over 200 lines including 9 total app/db/mock instances with volumes and networking, zsh) that probably it’s best to just forget it :wink:

edit: oh, and to add insult to injury, I was running 1.3.x version of Cursor, because why not.

11

My issue got solved by upgrading Docker from version 24.0.9 (2024-02) to the latest on my Ubuntu machine.

13

Hi @ravirahman

Well actually my issue is not solved.

I get the following error log:

2025-07-29 18:26:14.680 [info] No remote exec server found for authority: dev-container+7b2273657474696e6754797065223a22636f6e666967222c22776f726b737061636550617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e222c22646576636f6e7461696e657250617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e2f2e646576636f6e7461696e65722f646576636f6e7461696e65722e6a736f6e227d@ssh-remote+7b22686f73744e616d65223a22646576227d; using local
2025-07-29 18:26:15.830 [info] Resolving dev container authority 'dev-container+7b2273657474696e6754797065223a22636f6e666967222c22776f726b737061636550617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e222c22646576636f6e7461696e657250617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e2f2e646576636f6e7461696e65722f646576636f6e7461696e65722e6a736f6e227d' (attempt #1) container '{"settingType":"config","workspacePath":"/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission","devcontainerPath":"/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json"}'
2025-07-29 18:26:15.830 [info] Using exec server from resolve options. execServerRemoteAuthority: ssh-remote+7b22686f73744e616d65223a22646576227d
2025-07-29 18:26:15.926 [info] Starting Dev Containers dev-container+7b2273657474696e6754797065223a22636f6e666967222c22776f726b737061636550617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e222c22646576636f6e7461696e657250617468223a222f686f6d652f746869626175746d697175656c2f6769746c61622e636f6d2f6c6f66742d6f72626974616c2f70726f64756374732f636f636b7069742f73657276696365732f6d697373696f6e2f2e646576636f6e7461696e65722f646576636f6e7461696e65722e6a736f6e227d
2025-07-29 18:26:15.926 [info] [docker info]: Running command: docker
2025-07-29 18:26:15.928 [info] [sanity check node][stdout]: v20.18.2
2025-07-29 18:26:16.062 [info] [docker info]: Command completed with exit code 0
2025-07-29 18:26:16.062 [info] docker version: Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:    28.3.3
 Context:    default
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.26.1
    Path:     /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.39.1
    Path:     /usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose

Server:
 Containers: 0
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 0
 Images: 102
 Server Version: 28.3.3
 Storage Driver: overlay2
  Backing Filesystem: extfs
  Supports d_type: true
  Using metacopy: false
  Native Overlay Diff: true
  userxattr: false
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: systemd
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 runc
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: 05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da
 runc version: v1.2.5-0-g59923ef
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  apparmor
  seccomp
   Profile: builtin
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 6.8.0-1026-gcp
 Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: x86_64
 CPUs: 16
 Total Memory: 62.79GiB
 Name: development-thibaut
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false
2025-07-29 18:26:16.063 [info] Starting dev container
2025-07-29 18:26:16.063 [info] Rebuild mode: cache
2025-07-29 18:26:16.063 [info] Container is new: true
2025-07-29 18:26:16.063 [info] [get node path]: Running command: node
2025-07-29 18:26:16.114 [info] Copying devcontainer CLI from /Users/thibautredacted/.cursor/extensions/anysphere.remote-containers-1.0.22/dist/@devcontainers to /tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd
2025-07-29 18:26:16.181 [info] [get node path]: Command completed with exit code 0
2025-07-29 18:26:16.182 [info] Using remote exec server
2025-07-29 18:26:16.182 [info] Start devcontainer up ...
2025-07-29 18:26:16.760 [info] Devcontainer CLI written to /tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd
2025-07-29 18:26:16.855 [info] Copying forwarder.js to /tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd
2025-07-29 18:26:17.047 [info] Copying devcontainerShutdownMonitor.js to /tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd
2025-07-29 18:26:17.247 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: Spawning command in terminal. Node module path: /home/thibautredacted/.cursor-server/bin/a8e95743c5268be73767c46944a71f4465d05c90/node_modules
2025-07-29 18:26:17.458 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":3,"timestamp":1753806377539,"text":"@devcontainers/cli 0.75.0. Node.js v20.18.2. linux 6.8.0-1026-gcp x64."}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.458 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377539,"text":"Run: docker buildx version"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.520 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377600,"text":"Run: docker buildx version","startTimestamp":1753806377539}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.520 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377600,"text":"github.com/docker/buildx v0.26.1 1a8287f\r\n"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.520 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377600,"text":"\u001b[1m\u001b[31m\u001b[39m\u001b[22m\r\n"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.520 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377600,"text":"Run: docker -v"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.534 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377615,"text":"Run: docker -v","startTimestamp":1753806377600}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.534 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377615,"text":"Resolving Remote"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.536 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377618,"text":"Run: docker ps -q -a --filter label=devcontainer.local_folder=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission --filter label=devcontainer.config_file=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.553 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377633,"text":"Run: docker ps -q -a --filter label=devcontainer.local_folder=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission --filter label=devcontainer.config_file=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json","startTimestamp":1753806377618}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.553 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377633,"text":"Run: docker ps -q -a --filter label=devcontainer.local_folder=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission"}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.567 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":2,"timestamp":1753806377648,"text":"Run: docker ps -q -a --filter label=devcontainer.local_folder=/home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission","startTimestamp":1753806377633}
2025-07-29 18:26:17.631 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":3,"timestamp":1753806377711,"text":"Run: /bin/sh -c PACKAGE_REGISTRY_URL=https://redacted.private.pypi.server/pypi make dev-image","channel":"postCreate"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.380 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":3,"timestamp":1753806379461,"text":"Run: /bin/sh -c PACKAGE_REGISTRY_URL=https://redacted.private.pypi.server/pypi make dev-image","startTimestamp":1753806377711,"channel":"postCreate"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.380 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":2,"timestamp":1753806379462,"text":"Run: docker compose version --short"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.443 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":2,"timestamp":1753806379524,"text":"Run: docker compose version --short","startTimestamp":1753806379462}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.443 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":2,"timestamp":1753806379524,"text":"Docker Compose version: 2.39.1"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.443 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"start","level":3,"timestamp":1753806379524,"text":"Run: docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"stop","level":3,"timestamp":1753806379604,"text":"Run: docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config","startTimestamp":1753806379524}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":3,"timestamp":1753806379604,"text":""}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands]: {"type":"text","level":3,"timestamp":1753806379604,"text":"Exit code 1"}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]: Error: Command failed: docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at Ia (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1581099)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async u6 (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1570597)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async H6 (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1600450)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async BC (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1601238)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async d7 (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1674755)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async f7 (/tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1674413)
2025-07-29 18:26:19.523 [error] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stderr JSON parse error]:     at async /tmp/devcontainer-cli-0645895b-efc5-4f8d-93be-3727cd6354cd/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2:1597484
2025-07-29 18:26:19.524 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands][stdout]: {"outcome":"error","message":"Command failed: docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config","description":"An error occurred retrieving the Docker Compose configuration."}

2025-07-29 18:26:19.528 [info] [devcontainer run-user-commands][exit]: {"status":1}
2025-07-29 18:26:19.532 [error] Error resolving dev container authority Failed to run devcontainer command: 1. {"outcome":"error","message":"Command failed: docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config","description":"An error occurred retrieving the Docker Compose configuration."}

When trying to run the failed command

docker compose -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.sideservices.yml -f /home/thibautredacted/gitlab.com/whatever/services/mission/deploy/local/dev/docker-compose.yml --profile * config

I need to put the * between braces as ‘*’ in order to make it work